[at-l] Hammock + pack question

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 10:59 PM 10/22/2003 -0700, Kelly Whitman wrote:
>Hm... it's not like it's a 40 lb. pack.  Once the hammock and sleeping bag 
>are out of it and food is bear bagged and hung, it wouldn't weigh more 
>than a couple of pounds and would compress down to not take up much 
>room.  How do you leave a pack on the wet ground outside in the rain?

In a garbage bag.

>If you secured the pack to one end inside the hammock, the weight would be 
>on the ropes and webbing, not on the hammock fabic on which your body is 
>laying.  I don't want to have to emerge from a toasty sleeping bag, or 
>open the slit in a Hennessy and let in a bunch of hungry mosquitos, just 
>because I need things out of my pack in the middle of the night.

Take the stuff you'll need during the night and put it in a mesh gear loft.

>Still haven't figured out what to do if I need to go to the bathroom in 
>the middle of the night.  When I'm drinking 1+ gallons of water per day, 
>this is an inevitability!  I don't think a Travelmate will work laying 
>down (apologies to the gentlemen of the list).

One of the reasons backpacking is called "roughing it". You do what you 
gotta do.

>Can you kneel in a hammock?

Not recommended. Raising your torso above the sides of any hammock makes 
the center of gravity too high and makes a tip over very possible 
(probable?). It's not something I'd choose to do with an open pee bottle in 
my hand.